


Back to the Light

by TugboatExpress



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, I MISS LENA, Post-Shadow War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 01:39:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16609442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TugboatExpress/pseuds/TugboatExpress
Summary: Lena comes back from the shadow-realm to lots of hugs





	Back to the Light

The one person in the entire universe that Lena trusts is Webby. Lena trusts her wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Webby would never use her, or lie to her, or hate her. And Lena loves her for that.

Lena had spent weeks - months, even - in the shadow realm. Cold and alone and weak and terrified…. It was awful. It was like being very nearly dead, but death never coming for you.

Nothing is real in the shadow realm, nothing is tangible. You can’t touch anything or feel anything or BE anything. You just kind of slide around an inky black liminal plane, forgetting what it’s like to feel and to feel real.

So when Lena regained her physical from - got her body back, and gained free will for the first time in her life - she was absolutely desperate to give Webby one of those big hugs she loved so much.

One minute, she’s chilling in the dark abyss, and the next, she’s laying sprawled on her back. And she feels. She feels! 

She feels her body - and it’s been so long since she’s been in the physical world that she feels heavy, very heavy, and rather tired. But then, somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice screams “Webby!” and she snaps out it.

Her eyelids feel like they weigh a ton, but she forces them open.

The first thing she sees is Webby, two inches above her own face, lit faintly by the pale moon. She’s crying and grinning all at once. Webby reacts immediately - she yells at the top of her lungs, a shriek which is probably supposed to say “Lena!”, and throws herself onto Lena, squeezing as tight as she can. 

The impact knocks the wind out of Lena, and the shriek hurts her ears, and even the dim moonlight hurts her eyes, but she doesn’t care. Oh, she doesn’t care, Webby’s here - and she has her body back - and Webby’s here and it’s all real and she doesn’t care, she doesn’t care!

“Webby!” Lena hears a stern British voice say.

“Give her some room, lass” says another.

Webby gives one last squeeze and releases Lena, but sits down directly beside her. 

Nobody says anything. Lena can feel grass beneath her, and smell it too. Her eyes are slowly adjusting, and she can hear Webby sniffling. Her body is coming back to her. It feels heavy, but in a good way. Lena slowly starts to move.

When she sits up, Webby scoots beside her and buries her tear-soaked face into her shoulder. Then, none other than Scrooge McDuck comes and crouches in front of her.

“Lena. How do you feel?” he says, softly.

When Lena speaks, her voice is coarse. But it feels so, so good to be able to speak.

“Like shit,” she responds.

A collective sigh of relief seems to go around the group. Scrooge laughs, and she hears others, too.

Lena leans around him and sees the boys, whom she expected to see, but her eyes also land on Donald, and then Launchpad. She feels a lump in her throat. Everyone came here (wherever they are) to see her.

“Right then,” Scrooge says, standing. “Let’s get you home.”

Webby scrambles to her feet to offer her a hand up, which Lena gratefully accepts. She tries to take a step, but stumbles, and Webby catches her. Scrooge supports her other side, and they slowly head to the plane.

Lena has a million questions, and she’s sure the others do as well. And she’s thrilled to be back - the happiest she’s literally ever been - but she’s also exhausted. The others seem to understand and respect this.

Onboard the plane (what did they call it? The Dreamfinder? The Sunchaser? Something sickeningly sweet like that, she thinks), Lena is given a blanket, which she happily accepts. 

She’s sitting on a bench, Webby pressed right up beside her, with the big warm blanket draped around her. The blanket is so soft, so comfy. The weight of Webby’s shoulder against her own is so firm, so real. Lena starts to cry. 

Lena doesn’t like for people to see her cry. It’s weak and pathetic. But she doesn’t care at the moment.

“Ohhhh, Lena!” Webby says, quickly engulfing Lena in another hug. “It’s ok, you wonderful angel. Let it out, you magnificent wonder, it’s ok! You’re safe!”

Lena laughs through tears at Webby’s expressions, and returns the hug as best as she can right now.

Her tears mostly subside, and Webby sits down beside her again, though she grabs Lena’s hand and holds it so tightly it’s as if she’s afraid Lena will disappear again. She probably is.

Beakley and Scrooge approach the bench, and Lena wipes her eyes one last time.

“Lass,” Scrooge says, “we know you’re tired, and you should sleep on the way back, but we just need to do a sort of check-up, really quick. Is that alright?”

“Yeah,” she nods, and then Scrooge and Beakly examine Lena, head to toe, and ask her to do things like raise her arms, kick her legs, and all that. When they’re satisfied, they thank her, and tell her to get some rest now. 

“Everything else can wait until we get back,” Scrooge says. 

And then, hesitantly and awkwardly, he gives Lena a little pat on the shoulder. Another time, Lena might have scoffed and rolled her eyes, but at the moment it feels so sincere and so warm that all she can do is beam up at him. Then, he strolls off, presumably to keep Launchpad from killing them all.

“Lena,” Beakley says, and Lena turns to look at her. “We are all very glad you’re back. Truly, we are.” 

And then, she does something that astonishes Lena, and opens her arms for a hug. Lena stares in amazement for a moment, but then quickly accepts. It’s awkward and brief, just like Scrooge’s little pat, but they both mean the world to Lena.

As Beakley walks away, Lena turns her attention to Webby, about to say some sort of apology, or thank you, or something, but she never gets a chance.

The triplets come barrelling into the room, practically tripping over one another. Then Huey spots Lena, looking delicate and exhausted, wrapped in a blanket and Webby’s arms, and he shushes the other two.

They approach quietly, surveying Lena.

“Stop treating me like a grandma,” Lena says. “I’m not dying or anything… I literally just got brought back to life in front of your eyes. I’m fine,”

The boys grin, and wrap Lena up in a big group hug. They don’t know each other very well, but they certainly consider each other friends.

“How are you feeling?” Huey asks, holding his hand to her forehead as if checking for a fever.

“Meh, I’ve been worse”, she says, brushing his hand away.

“Here, wrap that blanket up tighter. The JWG says blankets are great for shock.”

“Really? And what does it say about returning from the shadow realm?” she retorts, smiling and pulling his hat down.

“So, why didn’t you tell us you were a-“ Louie starts, but it cut off by a sharp smack from Dewey and a disapproving look from both Huey and Webby.

“Lena, tell me,” Dewey interjects, “Fight any shadow monsters?”

She shrugs. “Meh. Mostly just waited around to die,” she jokes.

The others evidently do not take it as a joke. They all look shocked (and close to tears, in Webby’s and Louie’s case), so Lena hastily throws in a fake laugh and a casual “just kidding.”

In the silence that follows, Huey pulls out his nerd book again, consults a bookmarked page, and then turns to Lena.

“You should definitely get some sleep,” he says, in a tone that reminds Lena inexplicably of his uncle Donald. “We won’t be home for a few hours, and you’ve been through a lot.”

“That’s an understatement,” Lena mumbles. But she knows he’s right.

The boys head out, waving as they go.

“Good to have you back!” They say in unison.

“Not again!” says Dewey, as Louie slaps his hand to his forehead.

Lena snorts. “Nerds,” she says, but there’s a tenderness in her voice as she watches them file through the door.

When she turns back to look at Webby, Webby’s already staring at her.

“Sorry!” Webby says, quickly turning away. “I just haven’t seen you in so long. I sort of can’t believe it.”

“It’s ok!” Lena returns, but Webby still won’t look at her.

“Seriously, Webby, it’s fine. I’ve missed seeing you, too,”

That does it. Webby turns and beams up at Lena. They sit there for a moment, smiling like idiots, and then they both start speaking at once.

“I’m sorry I never told you what I was”

“I’m sorry I never realized something was going on”

They both blink. Lena shakes her head. “What?”

“I’m sorry!” Webby blurts. “I should have realized there was stuff going on with you. I should have seen the signs and I should have asked you and I should have DONE something,” she says, talking very quickly. “I was too selfish to notice, and I was too late. I’m sorry.”

Lena stares at her. Webby has been blaming herself this whole time. 

“What?” Lena exclaims. “Webby, no, no oh my god! You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve never done anything wrong, ever!”

“But I should have -“

“Webby. You are the only person I’ve ever trusted in my life. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had… or WILL every have, honestly. I wouldn’t send myself to the shadow realm for just anyone, you know,” 

Webby, though still looking unsure, laughs and bumps Lena’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

“I had to prove that I’m the most hardcore bitch here.”

Again, Webby laughs, but this time, when she’s finished, her face grows serious. “Honestly though…Lena…I thought I would never see you again.”

“I knew you’d bring me back.”

“How? How could you possibly be sure?”

Lena shrugs. “Because you’re Webby Vanderquack,”

Webby averts her eyes, cheeks red and smile wide.

“Yeah, w-well, you know…it, it wasn’t that hard, or anything,” she explains. “All we had to do was translate ancient runes, track down an ancient amulet, wait for a specific time in the lunar cycle, and repeat an incantation on the highest peak of the mountain where the amulet was formed.”

“That’s crazy!”

“That’s just a regular Tuesday, for us.”

It’s Lena’s turn to laugh now. She looks down at Webby, filled with complete admiration.

“Uh, seriously though,” she begins, “Thanks. That’s a lot of trouble to go through just for me, or whatever.”

Sincerity is hard for Lena. She’s used to shielding herself with layers of sarcasm. But she needs Webby to understand how grateful she is.

Webby shrugs. “It was no problem. We all really missed you.”

Lena looks away quickly, and Webby wonders if she’s said the wrong thing. “Lena…?” she prods.

Lena truns back around, fighting tears but not really succeeding. “Sorry,” she says, “I’m a crybaby tonight. It’s just…well, you know, I’m not really used to having people that miss me.”

Webby gazes up at her with a big, sad smile. “Well, you have us now. All of us. Me and the boys, and Granny and Uncle Scrooge, and Launchpad and Donald - oh - and Duckworth, and -“

“Who?”

“Our ghost butler - I’ll explain later. The point is, Lena, we all missed you. We all wanted you back. We love you! I…Lena, I love you.”

And Lena’s not a hugger, really, she’s not, but right now, she doesn’t care. She’s received more hugs in the past 15 minutes than she had in the previous 15 years. She scoops Webby up in what is quite literally the biggest and tightest embrace she’s ever had.

“I love you too,” she says, voice muffled from the hug. 

***

Lena falls into a deep and contented sleep, head in Webby’s lap as she recites some crazy adventure they went on.

Her body is exhausted. She knows there’s going to be tough conversations ahead. Her future is uncertain, because now she actually HAS one. But right now, all she can feel is love.

***

When Lena wakes up, she momentarily forgets where she is, and bolts upright. She’s breathing heavily and her eyes are wide, and darting around.

Then she sees the sun shining through huge velvety drapes, and feels the thick, plush blankets around her, and she realizes she’s in a rich-person house. Scrooge McDuck’s rich-person house!

She rubs her eyes. She doesn’t remember how she got here, and comes to the embarrassing conclusion that she must have been carried, like a baby or something. Oh well. She’d had the best sleep of her life.

Glancing at the bedside table, she notices a glass of water, and a little note. She picks it up.

“Good morning angel!” is scrawled on the card, along with a little drawing of Lena and Webby. 

Webby! Lena throws back the covers and runs to the door, heaving it open with a grunt. Seriously, why do rich people always have big dumb oak doors? Hasn’t she suffered enough? Ugh.

When she gets to the hallway, she smells something wafting up from the kitchen downstairs. Pancakes, she thinks. She smiles. She hadn’t realized, but she’s absolutely starving.

She rushes down the hall on her own two legs - that belong to her, and only her, forever - with a smile on her face, knowing that Webby will have saved her a seat.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys hope you liked it!!!!!! As usual feedback is appreciated :)
> 
> I MISS LENA SO MUCH I WANT TO DIE!!!!!!!!!! So I wrote this literally to cheer myself up lmao. miss that fuckin goth lesbian 
> 
> I didn't even intentionally write this to be shippy like that's how strong their relationship is omg im crying jfjhfjgkjfd
> 
> Also part of me wants to make this super long and multi-chaptered but part of me wants to keep it short and sweet ugh idk
> 
> **EDIT - I'm adding this little section months after i originally uploaded this fic to say: Friendship Hates Magic JUST aired and I was way off but like the new episode was literally so good i bawled my eyes out and i love violet sjhksjdsdkh


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